"We were confident that the format of 2008 won't work": Sony's Danish Khan on Dus Ka Dum

We spoke to Danish Khan, EVP and business head, Sony Entertainment Television, on the new format of Dus Ka Dum which is being re-launched after nine years.

Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is back with its quiz show Dus Ka Dum (DKD) after nine long years. Produced by Big Synergy, this new season of Dus Ka Dum boasts of an all-new format re-designed and developed by the in-house creative team of SET and Sony Pictures Television, UK.

Hosted by Salman Khan, Dus Ka Dum will be aired on Mondays and Tuesdays between 8.30 and 10.00 pm. The show is being promoted through Sony's network channels, digital and through outdoor ads.

Dus Ka Dum's video song

Mere Sai - Shraddha Aur Saburi which was earlier being aired at 7.30 pm has now been slotted at 7.00 pm, followed by Vignaharta Ganesha at 7.30 pm. Porus will be aired at 8.00 pm, followed by DKD from 8.30-10.00 pm. A week after the launch of DKD, Sony is launching Ekta Kapoor's new serial at 10.00 pm. Ye Un Dino Ki Baat Hain will be aired at 10.30 pm followed by Crime Patrol.

Dus Ka Dum's TVC

Since DKD is making a comeback after nine years, we asked Danish Khan, executive vice president and business head, Sony Entertainment Television, if they had any fear of how people will relate to the show that is making a comeback after a long break.

Danish Khan

He says, "Yes, we were very confident that the format, questions and methodology of 2008 won't work. So, we did a lot of research. We did not do this by thinking that just because there is Salman Khan, we will do this show. We did a lot of work in terms of format and design of the set; everything is new. Last time the survey size was just 5,000 and now we are talking about 1.5 million so, the focus was not only to take it a few notches ahead but to take a leap hence, it took one year and we worked on the questions for nine months. The maximum amount of effort has been on finalising the questions."

We asked Khan why it took the channel so long to bring back the show. He says, "I came back to Sony (from Star India) in 2015 and in 2016 we started planning Dus Ka Dum's format and we spoke to Salman in 2016 itself and the thought was to launch it in 2017, but by the time everything was put together - the contract, format and technology, it has happened now."

Earlier this year, after airing just three episodes of Family Time with Kapil Sharma, the channel decided to pull the plug on the show. The channel is soon going to get Comedy Circus back. We asked Khan if it is a replacement for Kapil Sharma's show. He says, "This year, of course, because of Kapil Sharma's health, the show couldn't go forward, but we are committed to comedy and hence, Comedy Circus will come back and will air during weekends. It is not a replacement for Family Time with Kapil Sharma and will be slotted at 9.30 pm."

Talking about Sony's content plan after he re-joined the channel in 2015, Khan says, "In the last two years, as soon as I re-joined the team, there was a strategy and it was based on three thoughts - novelty, variety and quality. We have crime, thriller, comedy, soaps and game/ quiz shows so, variety works for us and hence, in a year we have tried to pack and give people as many flavours as we can."

He adds, "Indian Idol will come back and it is the 10th year of the show and it will be a very important season. Super Dancer is also coming soon, Kaun Banega Crorepati will be back as soon as Dus Ka Dum finishes. Apart from that, there are four to five fiction shows that will be launched and overall, it is a very exciting year. We have been planning quite in advance. Many of the shows are in the advanced stages of planning I think we should be have a good year."